Speaker abstract

Streptomyces bacteria are well known for their ability to produce an immense diversity of secondary metabolites, including many antibiotics. The underlying biosynthetic machinery is a particularly interesting target for synthetic biology, due to its inherent modularity at multiple levels1,2. A treasure trove of antibiotic biosynthesis gene clusters has been identified by genome sequencing, typically 20–50 per genome3,4. We can use synthetic biology to re-engineer the bacterial genomes to awaken this multitude of cryptic antibiotic clusters. We have already demonstrated the potential of this strategy by awakening the cryptic/orphan CPK gene cluster5, which produces a novel antibacterial compound. Generalizing this approach using standardized molecular modules will become a central tool for discovering new bioactive compounds, ranging from anti-cancer drugs to antibiotics6.